Two weather delays made Saturday's home opener against Edward Waters take more than five hours to complete. But with a strong crowd on hand for the Prince Hall Americanism Football Classic, Miles could not hold a halftime lead in falling 36-20 to the Tigers at Sloan-Alumni Stadium.
The Golden Bears (0-3, 0-1 SIAC) fell behind early but a 73-yard touchdown pass from
Brinley Vandiver to
James Gatewood helped Miles tie the game at 6 with 5:51 left in the opening quarter. The extra point, though, was blocked and returned for two points by the Tigers (2-1, 1-0). Another touchdown from Tavion Faulk to Izaiah Jean-Baptiste pushed the EWU advantage even bigger in the early portion of the second quarter.
But Miles had an answer that would give it the lead for the first time this season.
Anthony Mix, Jr. came into the game and ran one play - an 8-yard scoring jaunt that capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive with seven minutes left before halftime. After forcing a punt, the  Golden Bears converted three fourth down plays before getting an 11-yard touchdown run from
Roderick Thomas on 3rd-and-8 - his second scoring run in as many weeks - to put Miles ahead 20-15 with 17 seconds left in the period.
Unfortunately, the Golden Bears' fortunes changed from there. Vandiver threw his first interception of the season on the second drive of the third quarter and the Tigers converted it into points as Faulk and Jean-Baptiste connected on their third touchdown pass of the game - this one from 40 yards away - to put EWU ahead 22-20 with 8:19 left in the third quarter.
While that would not appear to sink the Golden Bears' ship, the team was only able to muster 45 yards of total offense in the second half. A second weather delay of more than an hour did not allow for Miles to regroup, as a punt and an interception ended the drives after the deluge of rain sent the teams to their respective locker rooms.
Miles is back in action next week when it travels to take on Clark Atlanta. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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